


time moved too fast

by titleoftheperaltiagosextape



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angsty as shit tbh, F/M, Gen, I have no idea where this came from, it doesn’t really have any dialogue, spoilers for infinity war and endgame
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-11
Updated: 2019-08-11
Packaged: 2020-08-19 12:51:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20210053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/titleoftheperaltiagosextape/pseuds/titleoftheperaltiagosextape
Summary: Natasha reflects on her relationship with Steve.





	time moved too fast

**Author's Note:**

> ok so i had this idea in the back of my head and finally i wrote it tonight in a couple of hours in between an argument which is basically always how i write. it was originally something diffferent but then when i got to the last line (which i had already written) it just kinda fit? so i just left it like that. hope you like it!

Of all the mistakes she’d made, this was by far the most beautiful one.

She was there when he woke up. His first reaction to waking up seventy years in the future was being watched on a monitor in SHIELD’S DC HQ. Apparently Fury wanted her there to assess her new partner. By the time they met, 16 days later, she had designed a new persona for him to bounce off of. It was the closest to her true personality and later she realised that of course it was. He was always going to see her for who she was, no matter how many walls she put up. He would coax it out of her and tell her she was beautiful. It would never be any other way, because that’s who he was.

They worked together for two years within SHIELD before they brought it down and every day, she got to know him more. It started out as her trying to help him work through all he’d missed, and turned into one of the best friendships of her life. They watched movies together while going over mission reports, she tried to set him up, he would say no. If he didn’t, she’d be waiting at his apartment to talk about what was wrong each time. They teased each other and bickered in the middle of a fight, had their own inside jokes, and each time he gave her that genuine smile of his, her heart stuttered and fell a little more.

Then SHIELD fell, and he found out his best friend was alive. That short time being on the run with him changed things. They worked together just as well as before, and got even closer. The conversation they had in Sam’s bedroom is something she’d never share with anyone else. He was the first person to trust her to save his life besides Clint. But then it was over before she could say anything she would regret. After it was all over, she had to hide since all her covers were blown. But she couldn’t leave without seeing him again. So she found all the information she had on the Winter Soldier and used that as her reason for meeting him at that graveyard. It was only as he moved to kiss her cheek that she started questioning why her heart felt like it was being squeezed every time he was near her. After 82 days as Ms Marianne Wheeler in Chicago, Illinois, she figured it out. She was in love with him.

Soon after that, Tony called, said he was getting the team back together. They met at the Tower, and it was like no time had passed between them. But she couldn’t handle it, being around him knowing what he had brought out of her. So she flirted with Bruce, the coward that she was, but it was better than being around the man who had too much control over her. _You_ _can_ _take_ _the_ _girl_ _out_ _of_ _the_ _Red_ _Room_, _but_ _you_ _can_ _never_ _take_ _the_ _Red_ _Room_ _out_ _of_ _the_ _girl_.  
Being the one to use the lullaby on the Big Guy was horrible (and a little sexist, Stark) but it was preferable to seeing _his_ face some days. Except that never went anywhere, besides having more control over the Hulk which did help a couple times. Because when they were up there, fighting Ultron and sharing his shield, it was like nothing had ever happened, and she hadn’t been avoiding him for months. The way he looked at her hadn’t changed and he was still as good as ever. Her heart went into free fall that day, seeing the way he looked at her.

But that stupid mission in Lagos had to happen and change everything. Ross showed up with his shady accords and backed everyone into a corner about signing it. Being the righteous man he was, _he_ wanted to make sure the government wasn’t trying to screw the team over. (Fair, given the last 2 years.) Then Stark disagreed, and someone attacked the UN and everything got very violent very quickly. She worked quickly to appease both sides, but ended up being forced to choose at that airport. Of course she was going to choose him, he had her heart and she wasn’t about to let him crush it. And then he was gone, and she was on the run too.

Those three years as fugitives with him, Wanda and Sam weren’t easy, but had some of her best memories – hanging out in crappy hotel rooms eating takeout and playing games, sharing good stories from their lives before all this, helping people as nomads. When they got the call and ended up in Wakanda, she was wary to get back into big world saving fights. She just wanted to protect her family. But they lost, and her family was gone. All that was left were the jagged edges of a team ripped apart by a stupid fight.  
Tony got back and they were even worse, even with new friends around the universe. One by one her friends left the compound, and he was the last to go. She knew he had a support group, and was doing all the good that he could do, but it still broke her heart to see him walk out with his bags.  
Five years passed and she stopped caring about things so much. Losing too many people did that to a person. But then Scott showed up when they all thought he was dead, and suddenly they had hope. The team took a little convincing but it worked and they had a plan. Clint and her ended up in Vormir, on a cliff that one had to go over the edge of. She knew it had to be her. He had a family, a wife and kids to bring back and if there was any chance of that happening then she would willingly sacrifice herself. What life did she have to give up anyway? She let herself fall, closing her eyes to picture _him_ in her last moments. Then….nothing.

Even if this was a mistake, it was by far the most beautiful one.

**Author's Note:**

> i never thought i’d write something like this. it’s basically my normal writing style, but i always have a happy ending. i love a happy ending and never thought i’d write something that ends angsty but i did and here it is! it might have been bc my mood changed as i wrote it so by the time i got to the end i was upset, but idc bc i love the end result.
> 
> Also i wanna say that a line in this is inspired by another fic i read. i loved it sm and when i came to write this, i just added the line in as one of my personal headcanons that nat watches movies with steve to catch him up and he comes home to her after a date to chat about how it went. I i tried to find it but i don’t think i have it bookmarked unfortunately but if you know it, pls let me know!! (it’s about steve going on dates and nat is always there to talk about them and it’s really fuckin adorable)


End file.
